Press Release: AGH launches Firewood Community Safety Initiative to support high wood heating communities

 

Firewood from Dine Baadeiti
Wood Bank in Moenkopi, AZ

Oct. 3, 2024 - Today the Alliance for Green Heat announced the Firewood Community Safety Initiative, to help communities address wood heating safety issues. The initiative is funded by a three year grant from USDA’s Wood Education Research Center.

“Wood heating, when done well,  is an important renewable energy”, said John Ackerly, President of the Alliance for Green Heat. “This new initiative will provide safe wood heating resources and strategies suitable for wood burning communities”

According to the Rural Energy Consumption Survey approximately 10-13 million U.S. households use wood heat. Wood stoves have long been at the forefront of reducing fossil fuels in rural, lower-income homes.  Unfortunately, many households use old, inefficient and poorly maintained wood stoves that leak smoke inside and outside of the home.

The Firewood Community Safety Initiative is aimed at any firewood bank or high wood-burning town.  Those who participate will receive technical assistance from AGH staff to improve the safety of low-income homes who heat with wood.  A free toolkit, including smoke detector, indoor air sensor, educational resources and other items, is available for towns and firewood banks who sign up for the initiative.

The Alliance is working with Hopi tribal members that lead Pikyanivi Warmth for Hopi and Tewa firewood bank to put air quality monitors in classrooms to educate students about indoor air PM2.5 concentrations. After taking readings at school, each student will take the monitor home for a few days and take readings in the room with their wood stove or heating appliance and see the difference. Almost all homes on the Hopi reservation rely on wood or coal and they hope to identify dangerous stoves and find funding to replace them.

Sixteen other firewood banks have signed up for the Initiative, and some will engage in indoor air quality testing like the Hopi, and others will focus on other strategies. The initiative is part of a larger program that provides small grants to firewood banks to help them serve low income homes who can’t afford to heat their homes.  To date, the Alliance for Green heat has provided over 100 grants to tribes, churches, towns, non-profits and volunteer groups that run firewood banks.

Also part of this initiative is educational activities like webinars and the first one is "Common Problems and Solutions to Self-Installed Wood Stoves" On Oct. 17, from 1:00 - 2:30 EST. 

The Firewood Community Safety Initiative is made possible by a grant from the Wood Education Center at the USDA Forest Service.

For more information contact Hannah Stinson at Hannah@forgreenheat.org. To sign up your firewood bank or community, please fill out the form here.

Ancestral Lands Conservation Corp in Kykotsmovi Village, AZ

The Alliance for Green Heat promotes modern wood and pellet heating systems as a low-carbon, sustainable and affordable energy solution. The Alliance works to advance renewable residential heating technology, particularly for low and middle-income families. Founded in 2009, the Alliance is an independent non-profit organization headquartered in Maryland with staff in Arkansas, Wisconsin and Wyoming. www.forgreenheat.org

Firewood bank leaders hold first national meeting

More than 30 leaders of firewood banks receiving Forest Service funding via the Alliance for Green met
online to discuss the challenges their banks face and how Forest Service funding can help them better serve low-income households in their communities. 

This was the first time that many of the funded firewood banks met the heads of other banks and realized that they were part of a much larger national network.

 

The meeting was convened by the Alliance for Green Heat and featured a short talk by Brian Brashaw, Assistant Director for Wood Innovations at the US Forest Service, who are providing the funding for this program.

 

The purpose of the meeting was to explore how firewood banks can support one another and share information that would help other banks.  

 

During the meeting, bank leaders described a wide variety of organizations and activities, not all of which were even called “firewood banks.”  The underlying commonality is that they all provided free firewood to needy households.  Beyond that, the differences may be greater than the similarities.  Several tribes ran operations that resembled a small firewood utility, an entity responsible for delivering heating fuel throughout the winter.  Other banks only provided firewood on an emergency basis, when a household ran out of all other fuel.  Another bank served families who had gone through a rigorous eligibility screening process run by a state-supported agency and who could also receive LIHEAP benefits.

 

The way in which each firewood bank procures wood is as diverse as their geographic locations. From simple plans like receiving donations from downed trees on town streets to working with loggers thinning forests at risk of wildfire.  One bank serving tribal homes had equipment and staffing to process 7 cords an hour.  At the other end of the spectrum were small banks who were able to stop splitting wood by hand and use hydraulic splitters with this year’s funding. Obtaining wood becomes its own case study as the public-private-community lines intersect.  

 

As firewood bank leaders shared their stories, we were reminded of how critical wood heating and access to firewood is for some households. Robin, with the Oglala Lakota Cultural and Economic Revitalization Initiative (OLCERI), shared with us that on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota where OLCERI operates, housing is “woefully inadequate for the cold,” and that “people literally die in their homes every year, they’re freezing to death.” Providing wood for their community is a lifesaving action. For as many “thank yous” that we received from the firewood banks during the meeting, a thousand “thank yous” are owed back to them for doing their incredible work.

 

One conclusion based on this year's funding is that there may be far more wood banks than anyone realized and there is no easy way to reach them.  Wood banks emerge from churches, tribes, non-profits, town and county offices because it is the cheapest way to provide heating fuel to homes, and households heating with wood are not well-served by federal and state low-income heating programs. For some firewood banks, providing wood for heating is a service they have offered in the last decade while others, like the Nez Perce tribe, have long relied on and supplied wood to their community. Howard Teasley Jr., Director of the Forestry and Fire Management Division of the Nez Perce Tribe, shared that they have “dealt with fuel wood since life immemorial,” serving around 350-400 homes per year. 

 

Map showing the location of firewood banks funded in this cycle. 
Yellow represents faith-based banks, purple represents tribal banks, 
and green represents non-profit banks.

While all these firewood banks provide free firewood, like food banks, each one is distinctive.  One bank provides firewood to people with terminal illnesses who have run out of money.  Some provide multiple deliveries to each house through the winter, while others just provide a single delivery. Some firewood banks take steps to verify heating needs before delivering wood while others approach distribution with a no-questions policy. If someone says they need it, they give it.     

Other stakeholders working with firewood banks attended the meeting including Larry Brockman of the EPA's Burnwise program, Clarisse Hart of the Harvard Forest, Jessica Leahy of the University of Maine, Sean Mahoney from the State of Massachussetts and others.

 

The $590,000 for first year grants is going to 47 banks and applications for this year are now closed.  Congress provided funding for a 5-year period and the Alliance for Green Heat expects to announce updated criteria for the second-year funding cycle in the spring.

 

To stay up-to-date on when the next funding becomes available, sign up for updates at the bottom of this page.

Further Information:

• USDA Funding Flows to Firewood Banks (January 4th, 2023)
• Firewood Bank Resources (2022)

 

 

 

USDA funding flows to firewood banks

There is a wood bank in the historic
Village of Walpi in Arizona that works
to maintain their  traditional 
architecture and customs. 

Second year grant details: The US Forest Service approved a second year of funding for AGH's  Firewood Bank Assistance Project.  Applications can be submitted as of Sept. 1, 2023.  Details for who can apply are different for the second year grant cycle and can be found here.

First year grant details: In 2022, the Alliance for Green Heat has received firewood grant applications for over $600,000 and has disbursed $587,000 of the available $590,000 (the remaining $3,000 will be rolled into the second year grant cycle). Fifty-six firewood banks in 20 states received an average of about $12,000 each. With The funding comes from the US Forest Service which part of the US Department of Agriculture and represents the first of five years of funding for firewood banks.

The largest firewood banks receiving funding are run by tribes in New Mexico and Arizona where a large percentage of homes heat with wood.  About 40% of applications received to date are from tribes, some of which process over 1,000 cords of wood and supply more than 500 homes each winter with fuel.  Overall, the 43 firewood banks who have applied so far process an average of 212 cords per year and provide an average of 1.3 cords per household. 

Volunteers at Project Fire in
North Carolina load wood for delivery.

Firewood banks are like food banks and are probably in all US states with the exception of Hawaii. Researchers had estimated there were up to 100 firewood banks across the country, but there are now believed to be at least double that number.

The firewood banks are using the funding mainly to purchase chain saws, splitters, trailers, sheds, moisture meters  and safety equipment. Most firewood banks already have liability insurance and all are required by AGH to have staff and volunteers sign liability waivers.    AGH also requires recipients to regularly test the moisture content of their wood and strive to only provide seasoned wood (20% moisture content or lower) during the heating season.

Firewood, sometimes called the “people’s fuel,” because it is often free and abundant, is seeing a resurgence this year as fossil fuel prices climb.  Most of the firewood banks use wood that was already dead or down and much of it is donated by tree services, towns or local people. Still, most wood that falls across roads or on people’s lawns is thrown away.  According to the EPA, in 2018, landfills received 12.2 million tons of wood, 8.3% of all municipal waste that was landfilled. 

For more information or to apply, go to https://www.firewoodbanks.org.

---

Alliance for Green Heat calls on President-elect Biden to support and help transform wood and pellet heating

Press release

Contact: John Ackerly

202-365-4765

Nov. 16, 2020 - The Alliance for Green Heat congratulates President-elect Joe Biden and Kamala Harris on their 2020 presidential victory and welcome their commitment to scale up renewable energy and energy efficiency.

This change of administration offers the United States a historic opportunity to reduce fossil fuels through a range of renewable heating solutions and energy efficiency measures. We have already begun to decarbonize our electric grid, and now it’s time to also focus on our heating sector which can reduce heating costs for families across the country, buoy economic recovery and create good-paying jobs.

The Alliance for Green Heat’s supports all renewable heating options as well as strategic pairing of heat pumps, geothermal, solar thermal and solar PV with wood and pellet heat technologies (our specialty). The role of decentralized renewable thermal technologies, including wood, solar thermal and geothermal is essential along with the electrification of heat as our electric grids slowly become more renewable. The electrification of transportation is creating massive demands for new generation and distribution. This combined with very high peak demands in the cold, short daylength northern tier of the country calls for strategic deployment and use of non-electric heating technologies. Rural areas need special attention given the cost of new infrastructure.

Executive Branch

The Biden Administration, through executive action, can immediately begin to drive markets toward beneficial forms of advanced wood heating. It is essential that Biden’s administration analyzes small-scale wood heating as having unequivocal carbon benefits. This includes:

• Ensuring there is an in-depth, science-based analysis to account for carbon content of wood used for residential and small-scale institutional heating that is separate and distinct from the analysis used for larger scale biomass to electric pathways.
• Use the power of procurement, as outlined by the Climate 21 initiative, to “bolster markets for climate friendly products such as … heating systems that use wood pellets” in federal buildings, starting with more rural buildings in colder climates.
• Directing the GSA to require rural federal buildings to consider heating with wood, chips or pellets where it is economically feasible.
• Prioritize an interagency working group on bioenergy to focus on small scale thermal wood.
• Include environmental justice considerations in bioenergy projects and expanding employment opportunities for Native Americans and low-income populations in rural areas.

Agencies

EPA: 

We urge the EPA, under new leadership to give more priority to one of the most popular and commonplace renewable energy solutions in the country. To this end, we encourage the EPA to

• Invest in the expeditious development and adoption of test protocols that resemble how homeowners use wood heaters (we use the term “wood heater” to include wood and pellet stoves, boilers and furnaces).
• Prepare the groundwork for a national wood stove exchange program to replace old wood heaters with cleaner alternatives.
• Put resources into the offices that certify wood heaters so that the process is expedited and includes a full review of all testing requirements
• Ensure the EPA’s Science Advisory Board (SAB) evaluates the carbon benefits of residential and small-scale institutional wood and pellet heating based on studies of how that wood is gathered and obtained by households and small institutions.

DOE:

• Issue a Statement on Scientific Integrity that reaffirms DOE’s commitment to renewable energy pathways that can be deployed in the short term, including wood heating.
• Expand the focus of the Bioenergy Technologies Office beyond liquid fuels to include biothermal and provide additional grants for automated, next generation wood heating technology.
• Develop strategies that utilize wood heating as an integrated approach to mitigate grid-load growth risks caused by rapid electrification in the country’s northern tier.

USDA:

• Prioritize the utilization of wood thinnings removed from high-hazard forests to be used for local heating of homes and institutions in those areas.
• Ensure Rural Development Housing programs allow for and encourage the installation of modern, automated wood heating.
• Increase funding to the Community Wood Energy program.

Congress:

We urge the Biden administration to work together with a closely divided Congress to:

• Incorporate the BTU Act into any renewable energy or tax legislation to ensure that the most carbon beneficial pathway for low-grade, bi products of sustainably harvested wood is included.
• Expand tax credits for energy efficient appliances including the cleanest and most efficient wood and pellet heaters,
• Expand funding for the DOE to continue the R&D program to modernize residential wood and pellet heating technology
• Establish a national program to retire older wood heaters in exchange for heat pumps, pellet heaters, and in some cases, new wood heaters.
• Ensure that weatherizing programs inspect wood and pellet stoves just as they do with gas and oil furnaces for both safety and efficiency and provide avenues for repair or replacement, if needed.

The Alliance for Green Heat promotes wood and pellet heat as a low-carbon, sustainable and affordable residential energy solution. The Alliance works to advance cleaner and more efficient wood heating appliances, particularly for low and middle-income families.  The Alliance runs the semi-annual Wood Stove Design Challenge to encourage innovation and automation in wood stoves. Founded in 2009, the Alliance is a 510c3 non-profit organization based in Maryland.  

US to begin mandatory survey of wood pellet varieties, volumes and ingredients

Rosalie Bianco founded Boulder-based
New Earth Pellets using bark beetle-damaged
trees to make the pellets.  Her company, like
others, will  have to start filling out this
survey in 2016. 

Dec. 2016 update - The EIA released its first data set showing production of wood pellets by state, region and capacity. Reports will be issued monthly.

June 2015 - The US government is poised to begin a monthly survey of pellet producers, much like it conducts similar surveys for coal, oil, gas, and other renewable technologies like solar panels.  The Alliance for Green Heat has been part of a coalition urging the government to include thermal biomass in reports, policies and data collection initiatives.

Some pellet manufacturers may say, “be careful what you wish for, lest it may come true.”  Efforts by the Pellet Fuels Institute and others to gather information about how many pellets are being produced each year have been met with resistance by many manufacturers. 

In contrast, response rates to surveys by the Energy Information Agency (EIA) are often 100% according to EIA staff because response to the EIA energy surveys is mandatory pursuant to Section 13(b) of the Federal Energy Administration Act of 1974.  Failure to respond to EIA surveys is punishable by significant fines.

The EIA-63C "Densified Biomass Fuel Report” will require any company that produces more than 10,000 tons (the EIA expects there to be about 150) to fill out the survey monthly, which the EIA estimates will take one hour to complete.  The EIA aggregates the survey responses and does not release any company specific data, a strict rule that follows with all energy surveys.

The EIA is an independent information agency within the Department of Energy.  Its long hallways are filled with wonky number crunchers who produce some of the most important data that industry and government rely on to understand energy markets.  Thermal biomass being selected at long last to join the club of major energy producers shows recognition of its contributions to heat homes and institutions across America is growing.

The EIA wants to know how much PFI certified and non-certified pellets manufacturers are making for both the bulk and bagged market.  For the PFI certified pellets, the EIA wants to know whether they are premium grade, standard or utility grade.

The survey also asks if pellets are being sold domestically or to foreign markets and even why plants may not be operating at full capacity.  The survey asks if extrusion machinery was not fully utilized, was it a shortage of raw materials, drying capacity, grinding capacity, or lack of a market for them?

As pellet exports for European electric plants have become more controversial, one relevant part of the survey covers the origin of wood fiber.  The survey lists 10 possible sources of fiber: from pulp wood quality roundwood to wood chips to logging residues to sawdust.  Then, it asks if this fiber is from a natural private forest, a planted private forest, or public land.  See more in chart below:

In addition to pellets, the survey includes other densified biomass such as wood bricks, wood logs and briquettes.  The results will likely show a rapidly expanding wood brick/log sector, which has the potential to produce far cleaner fuels than cordwood in residential wood stoves.  However, there is no quality certification process for these types of densified biomass in place yet, as there is for pellets.  As this market matures and supply begins to meet demand in upcoming years, there is likely to be more focus on the ingredients used in the fuel, just as there is now with pellets.

“This survey is a sign that the US government is taking thermal biomass more seriously,” said John Ackerly, President of the Alliance for Green Heat.  “Pellets can provide a clean and efficient alternative to fossil fuels to heat our homes and buildings.  We applaud the EIA for agreeing to undertake this survey so that all stakeholders can have a level of detail and transparency,” Ackerly added.

The survey has already been through one public comment period, where major stakeholders, including the Alliance for Green Heat, provided feedback and suggestions to the EIA.  It is now being sent out for a second 30-day public comment period.  

The Alliance Partners with USDA & Groups to Promote Wood Heat

John Ackerly, president of the Alliance for Green Heat, on September 11 joined the USDA's Deputy Secretary Krysta Harden, along with leaders from, the Biomass Power Association, the Biomass Thermal Energy Council, and the Pellet Fuels Institute, in Washington for the announcement of their new partnership agreement. The alliance will jointly promote and expand the woody biomass sector, which will help to improve the safety and health of our nation's forests.

"Today's announcements will help us find innovative ways to use leftover wood to create renewable energy and support good jobs in rural America," USDA Secretary Vilsack said. "Wood to Energy efforts are a part of our 'all of the above' energy strategy. Appropriately scaled wood energy facilities also support our efforts to remove hazardous fuels and reduce the risks of catastrophic wildfires."

The Alliance for Green Heat is part of this partnership to work more closely with the US government to advance cleaner and more efficient wood and pellet stoves. "The USDA is uniquely positioned to help rural families better use wood and pellets to heat their homes and we look forward to working with them on that," said John Ackerly.

The partnership agreement focuses on promoting wood energy nationwide as a means to address fire risk, bolster rural economic development, improve air quality and help meet the Obama Administration's renewable energy and energy efficiency goals. These organizations support the use of wood energy across the scale of users – from residential users, to commercial and institutional facilities, to industrial production of heat and/or electricity to drive businesses and feed the electrical grid.

Staff from USDA and the four groups will meet regularly to develop and implement an action plan for wood energy, seeking to increase awareness of USDA program opportunities, encourage adoption of wood to energy technologies, and strengthen coordination of industry and USDA initiatives.

See More Photos Here
See the USDA's press release Here
See remarks delivered at the event by John Ackerly below.

Remarks by John Ackerly at the Signing of a Memorandum of Understanding with the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

September 11, 2013

I'm John Ackerly, President of the Alliance for Green Heat. We represent the interests of more than 10 million American households who heat their homes with wood and pellets.

We hear about solar a lot, but families who heat with wood make three times the energy that all residential solar panels make. In fact, it's rural Americans with modern wood and pellet stoves who are leading the residential renewable energy movement and that is something we should be really proud of.

With the resurgence of wood and pellet heating, it's the third most common form of heating in America after gas and electricity.

But we need even cleaner and more efficient stoves on the market, and we need to help remove the older, less efficient wood stoves. The Forest Service is a partner in places like Seeley Lake, Montana, where old stoves are being replaced with modern, new ones, resulting in significant improvements in air quality. We are glad this MOU will put a spotlight on how wood and pellets can help rural families affordably heat their homes with a local, renewable fuel.

On November 16^th through 19^th, we are holding the Wood Stove Decathlon, a competition to see what team can make the cleanest, most efficient, and most affordable wood stove, right here on the National Mall in front of this building. We are proud that USDA is a partner in this technology competition. I invite you all to come.

You probably think you know what a wood stove is. Well, come check out these high-tech stoves in November: you will see computerized wood stoves, condensing wood stoves, stoves you control with your smart phone – and stoves that even charge your smart phone in a black-out. And maybe most importantly, you will see stoves that are automated with oxygen sensors, which are used in all of your cars, and are key to clean and efficient combustion in cars, boilers and many other applications.

Thank you Secretary Vilsack, and also Chief Tidwell, and I look forward to seeing you on the Mall in November. 

Interstate Transport of Firewood to be Regulated

Regulations are now being drafted and reviewed that would place certain labeling and recordkeeping requirement on companies moving firewood across state borders. According the USDA, in essence the regulations would require that the location of the production facility of the firewood be on the label, along with the county or counties from which the trees used to produce the firewood were harvested. If a treatment was applied, then a final labeling element would be required to verify heat treatment and the schedule.

On the record keeping side, firewood producers would need to keep and provide upon request records of where, from whom, and in what quantities they received the wood used to make the firewood. The same is required for shipments of firewood to customers. The USDA says that they are not considering any requirement on information about the costs of or revenues received from those transactions. Firewood distributors would need to keep similar records (volume received and from whom, volume sold or shipped and to whom). Retailers would need records of incoming inventory and total sales volume. 

According to the USDA, the regulations are still in draft form and working their way through the required review processes prior to publication as a proposed rule. The opportunity to review the language and comment will occur during the public comment period after publication as a proposed rule in the Federal Register. The publication date is undetermined at this time because of the time various reviewers take to review regulations varies from reviewer to reviewer. It is unlikely that the firewood labeling and record keeping regulations would be published this calendar year.

The labeling and record keeping requirements described above are predicated on the National Firewood Task Forces’ (NFTF) recommendations for best management practices for firewood. That document can be found here (among other places on the internet):

http://www.ct.gov/deep/lib/deep/forestry/nationalfirewoodtaskforcerecommendations.pdf

Below is the initial notice about the upcoming review process.

Domestic Regulation of Firewood

    Legal Authority: 7 U.S.C. 7701 to 7772; 7 U.S.C. 7781 to 7786.

    Abstract: This rulemaking would require that commercial firewood  destined to be moved interstate be affixed with a label on which the  county and State, or counties and States, in which the wood from which the firewood was produced was harvested, the site at which the firewood was produced, what phytosanitary treatment, if any, the firewood has received, and contact information for reporting detections of suspected plant pests are prominently and legibly displayed. We would also require firewood producers, distributors, and retailers to retain  records regarding the manufacturing, purchase, and sale of the firewood. Although the movement of commercial firewood in interstate commerce can be a pathway for numerous plant pests, this movement is currently largely unregulated. This action would aid in preventing the further dissemination of plant pests within the United States through the interstate movement of firewood.

    Timetable:

------------------------------------------------------------------------

               Action                    Date            FR Cite

------------------------------------------------------------------------

NPRM................................   11/00/13

NPRM Comment Period End.............   01/00/14

------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Regulatory Flexibility Analysis Required: Yes.

    Agency Contact: Paul Chaloux, National Program Manager, Emergency

and Domestic Programs, PPQ, Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant

Health Inspection Service, 4700 River Road, Unit 137, Riverdale, MD

20737-1236, Phone: 301 851-2064.

    RIN: 0579-AD49

Wood Heat Symposium Challenges Policy Makers to Address Wood Heat’s Potential

This last Tuesday, Washington DC witnessed a rare event; a group of policy makers, industry officials and environmental organizations gathered to discuss the renewable energy contributions of everyday Americans using wood to heat their homes. The basics of this technology has been around for hundreds of years, but its modern form has yet to earn the same respect and attention flashier renewable energies such as wind or solar power receive. Wood heat provides 80% of residential renewable energy in America, solar PV 15% and geothermal only 5%, but wood heat has consistently been neglected by state and federal policy makers. On Tuesday, the Alliance for Green Heat’s Symposium, “Scaling up Residential Biomass Heating” helped to raise the profile of residential wood heat in Washington.

This symposium explored the opportunities for policy makers to maximize the potential of residential wood heat to reduce fossil fuel use in a tight fiscal climate, while minimizing its drawbacks. The eleven expert speakers covered the policy landscape, sustainability and emissions issues, state and federal case studies and results of a newly released study on wood heat incentives. The discussion was divided into two panels, the first, “Wood Heat in America: The People’s Renewable,” was a bright look at the scale and potential of wood heat in America, with Dave Atkins from the Forest Service outlining the ecological benefits of firewood harvest, John Ackerly of the Alliance for Green Heat presenting on how wood heat will continue to outplace solar, Jack Goldman of the Hearth Industry discussing how technological innovations are cleaning up wood smoke and Jon Strimling of American Biomass discussing how the country can further scale up wood heat. This panel was introduced by Edmund Gee of the USDA, and moderated by Lily Donge of the socially responsible investment group, Calvert Asset Management.

The second panel outlined various policy and incentive options for residential wood heat. The Alliance for Green Heat’s Tatiana Butler both moderated and discussed their newly released 130 page policy toolkit on Transforming Wood Heat in America. Scott Nichols of Tarm USA began the discussion by comparing the US’s progress on promoting wood heat as a valuable energy solution with the great advancements Europe has made. Steve Nadel from the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy discussed how incentives can act to drive the market towards the most efficient appliances. Finally Chris Rice from the Maryland Energy Administration gave a real life example of how Maryland has tried to integrate wood heat into their renewable energy policies. Ed Cesa concluded the symposium with a discussion of the valuable educational work the Wood Education and Resource Center performs and finances.

Stakeholders who attended included representatives from the Forest Service, EPA, state energy offices, the EIA, environmental groups, non-profits, the Congressional Research Service and many wood heat related businesses. There was concern expressed over how we would know when the nation would hit the point of unsustainable harvest. While that point is far in the future, attendees felt it was important to consider when growing the use of woody biomass while other uses of it may grow quickly as well. Other discussion centered on how low-income families would be affected by tightening emission standards and the difficulties invasive species such as the Emerald Ash Bore, pose to the firewood industry.

The Alliance for Green Heat wishes to express its thanks to everyone who participated and contributed to a valuable and ongoing discussion, and especially to the Wood Education and Resource Center, and the Forest Service headquarters. For copies of the power point presentations, click here.